Obama sets meet with Razak

IMPORTANT VISITUS President Barack Obama looks on as he disembarks from Air Force One at the Royal Malaysian Airforce base to attend the 27th Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in Subang, outside Kuala Lumpur on Friday. The 27th Asean Summit takes place in Malaysia from November 18 to 22. AFP PHOTO

KUALA LUMPUR: United States President Barack Obama meets Malaysia’s leader on Friday and is expected to strike a delicate balance between criticizing alleged democratic abuses while maintaining a relation-ship Washington considers strategi- cally important.

Obama has courted Prime Minister Najib Razak as a key partner as he seeks to shore up regional alliances amid worries over China’s rise.

The pair even bonded privately as golf buddies last December in Hawaii.

But the relationship has come under the microscope as Malaysia cracks down on critics and with Najib embroiled in a massive corruption scandal, raising accusations Washington was putting geopolitics ahead of core US principles.

Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said Thursday that Obama intended to be “very candid” about government pressure on Malaysia’s opposition and media when they meet on Friday evening.

Domestic and international critics have accused Najib of an escalating crackdown on dissent and free expression after his longtime ruling coalition suffered an election setback in 2013.

Opponents say the situation has worsened after it was revealed in July that nearly $700 million in mysterious deposits were made to Najib’s personal bank accounts.

He denies wrongdoing but has stayed silent on the source and purpose of the money while clamping down on critics over the affair, including firing the attorney general and his deputy premier.

Najib’s government has also placed pressure on the anti-corruption agency investigating the matter, and has detained whistle-blowers or threatened them with various charges.

Domestic investigations appear to be stalled but financial regulators in several countries have launched probes.

Opposition leader Wan Azizah Ismail said on Thursday that Malaysia was becoming an “intolerant autocracy” with Najib presiding over rampant corruption, racial and religious extremism, and rights abuses.

“Obama must not allow trade interests to undermine our inalienable struggle for justice and basic rights,” she said, calling for US pressure.

John Malott, a former US ambassador to Malaysia, said Obama is “on a tightrope” over his Malaysia ties, needing to keep Najib in the fold over China’s rise, the US-sponsored Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact, and other issues.

“He is going to have to distance himself somewhat because Najib is tainted goods, but he still needs to maintain relations,” Malott said. “This gives a chance for him to raise human rights, and the Anwar case.”

Wan Azizah took over as opposition leader earlier this year, replacing her husband Anwar Ibrahim after he was jailed in February for five years on a charge that he sodomized a former male aide.

Anwar denies the charge, and the US State Department has said his jailing raised questions about the rule of law and judicial independence.

Earlier in November, his family released a report by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that said Anwar, 68, was denied a fair trial and was jailed for political reasons, urging his immediate release.